Casting metals.



- A. M. AGKLIN. CASTING METALS. Afrmoulon FILED JAN. 28.1901.

PATENTED 0011.20, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

"rm: NORR'S PZTERS co. PHO10-L1THQ.. WASHINGTON, D. l;

UNIT D STATES Patented October 20, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED M. ACKLIN, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HEYL ANDPATTERSON, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, A FIRM.

CASTING METALS.

SPECIFICATION forming-part of Letters Patent No. 741,751, dated October20, 1903.

Application filed January 28, 1901- Serial No.44,966. (No model.)

To all whom it mag concern.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED M. ACKLIN, a

gheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Casting Metals; andl do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description thereof. V

My invention relates to the casting of metal, and it has reference moreparticularly to that method of casting in'which the metal is fed into aseries of molds mounted on a powerdriven endless carriersuch as is shownin Letters Patent No. 583,424, granted to me on May 25, 1897.

One of the difficulties attending the practicing of the method abovereferred to is that an endless carrier of great length was required inorder to allow the metal within the molds of the carrier to coolsufficiently for discharging into ordinary cars, necessitatingconsiderable space for the apparatus and augmenting the amount, andconsequently the cost, of material required for its construction andrepairs. Another difliculty was that on account of the endless carrierbeing inclined upwardly from the emergingend of the tank to the wheelsfor such carrier the stress or strain on the links and axles of thecarrier, as well as upon the sprockets, was great, so as to causebreakage and increased cost for the renewal of the parts.

The object of my invention is to obviate these difliculties as much aspossible and to provide an apparatus which will take up less space ingeneral and one which will decrease the distance between the ladle-cartrack and the metal-car track, which decreased distance is a decidedadvantage in an ordinary blastfurnace yard, as well as one which will bemore durable and lessen the cost of the renewal of the parts.

My invention consists, generally stated, in i the novel arrangement,construction, and combination of parts, as hereinafter more specificallyset forth and described, and particularly pointed out in the claims. Toenable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains toconstructand use my 'apparatusand to practice my invention,

I will describe the same more fully, referring :to the accompanyingdrawings, in whichresident of Pittsburg, in the county of Alle- I Figure1 is a side view of the apparatus em ployed, showing some of the partsbroken away and in section. Fig. 2 is a cross-section ofthe tank on theline 2 2, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the endless carrier. Fig. 4 is aside view of the same, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view of several of themolds.

Like numerals of reference herein indicate like parts in each of thefigures of the drawin s.

lhe framework of the apparatus may be of any suitable construction, thatillustrated consisting of the standards 1, erected upon the base-plates2 and connected by cross-bars 3.

The brackets 4 connect said standards 1 and cross-bars 3 and act tobrace the structure,

and these standards are stationed at proper intervals so as to supportwithin the same the reservoir or tank 5. This tank 5 is made fromsheet-metal plates properly joined together to prevent leakage, andsecured to the inner walls of said tank are the tracks 6, which may beformed of angle-bars and extend from the front end of the frameworkbeyond the tank 5 to the rear end of the frame, and where said tracks 6are not within the tank 5 they are supported by the frame in anysuitable manlner. As stated, the tracks 6 begin at the front endoftheframe adjacent to the hexagon wheel 7 and then slope down, as at7,into the tank 5, after which they run in a horizontal line 6 throughthe tank to the rear end thereof and at a height within said tank aswill permit cured to the standards 1 below the tracks 6 and under thetank 5, these tracks 10 extending from the front end of the apparatus ata point adjacent to and under the front wheels 7, mounted on the shaft10 in a horizontal line 10,and terminate at a point adjacent to thewheels 8 at the under side thereof.

The endless carrier 11 is adapted to travel on the tracks 6 and 10 andis preferably made up of the construction shown, in which the links 12are open-loop shaped in construction and have bolts 12' extendingthrough short pipe sections between the same to stiffen and strengthenthem. The ends of these links 12 overlap each other around the axles 13and are loosely mounted thereon, while rollers or wheels 14 are looselymounted around the ends of. such axles for traveling on the tracks 6 and10, while the links 12 engage with the hexagon faces on the wheels 7 andS as the endless. carrier 11 travels over the same. Secured to the links12 are the pans or molds 16, which have extensions 15 thereon, throughwhich and the links 12 bolts 15 pass for securing the same, and the pansor molds 16 have projecting lips 16' thereon, so as to overlap eachotherand prevent the molten metal from falling down between the molds 16.Collars 17 are formed on the axles 13, which are provided witharc-shaped projecting hoods 18 thereon for extending over the'bosses ofthe wheels 14, and a set-screw 19 is secured within the hoods 18, so asto enable said collars 17 to be securely clamped to the axles 13 by theturning of said set-screws 19, and the hoods 18 acting to protect thejournals or bearings of the axle from the molten metal or other materialwhich is liable to be splashed onto such journals or hearings in thepouring of the molten metal or from a sudden jar of the molds in passingover the frame.

Located under the wheel 8 and below the endless carrier 11 is the tank21, formed of any suitable material, which is adapted to be filled withwater and into which a chute 22 leads from under the sprocketwheels 8and carrier 11. A track 23 extends upward from theinterior of said tank21 at an incline to a metal-car 23, which is located on tracks 22',adjacent to said tank 21, and the upper ends of said track 23 is curvedor bent downwardly, as at 23. A skip-car 24, adapted to travel on saidtracks 23 by its wheels 24, is located within said tank 21 and is raisedand lowered by means of a rope 25 passing over a powerdriven drum 26 andconnected to a link or bar 27, pivoted at 27 to the rear end of said car24. V

In practice the apparatusis located adjacent to the blast-furnace,andthe molten metal may be conveyed in any suitable manner to the molds ofthe carrier, although in the drawings I have simply indicated a spout28, into which the metal is poured from a ladle 29, mounted on a car 30,which is adapted to travel on the tracks 31 to and from theblastfurnace. The spout 28 is located at the front end of the carrier11, over the tank 5, as I prefer to pour the metal into the molds whilesaid molds are partially submerged by the water within said tank, sothat while the carrier 11 is moving in the direction of the arrow, Fig.1, the metal is poured into the molds in the front end of the tank 5. Bypouring the metal into the molds in this manner the hot metal does notact to heat said molds to such a high degree, and consequently there isless tendency of the molds bending and warping due to expansion andcontraction. As the metal is poured into the molds from the ladle 29through the spout 28 said molds move along within the tank 5 in ahorizontal line, the tracks 6 being at such a height that the molds arenot completely submerged, the Water-line being below the top edges ofthe molds. The molds are carried along at this height through the tank5, which is of such length that the metal will set sufficiently to formcrusts on the surfaces of the pigs until the molds reach and ascend theinclined portion 7 of the tracks 6 and pass over the wheels 8. As themolds pass up and over the Wheels 8 they are inverted, and the pigs aredischarged therefrom, falling down the chute 22 into the tank 31,located below the wheels 8, where they are caught and held in theskipcar 24 and completely submerged by the water in said tank. When asufficient number of pigs are contained within the car 24, the said caris raised up the inclined tracks 23 through the water in the tank 21 bythe powerdriven'drum 26 and rope 25, passing around said drum andconnected to said car, and when said car has reached the curved portionof said tracks 23 the pigs are dumped or discharged therefrom into themetalcar 23 on the tracks 22, while said car is held by the rope 25 andbar 27, from which point the metal pigs can be hauled to any pointdesired and the car 24 returned to place within the tank 21 for anotheroperation. After discharging their pigs into the tank 21 the moldsreturn in their inverted position along the tracks 10 until they pass upover the wheels 7 in position to enter the tank 5 again and receiveanother charge of metal.

By the above process the molds filled with metal are carried in apartially-submerged state through a body of Water, by which the metal isgradually cooled and set and when sufficiently cool is discharged fromthe molds and completely submerged and carried through another body ofwater, so that it emerges therefrom sufliciently cooled to permit it tobe handled or discharged into cars for trans portation. The carrier andtank are therefore just made sufficiently long to incrust the pigs as tokeep them from bleeding, and are therefore not extended to any greatlength. At the same time the water keeps the molds comparatively cool,and the wear and tear on the molds are thus greatly reduced. Since thecarrier and tank are 'of a comparatively short length, thereby reduc ingthe cost and space, and since the carrier is not provided with any greatlift except what little is required to get over the rear end of thetank, the stress or strain upon the links, axles, and wheels thereforwill be light.

It will be evident that another skip-car can be used on a track adjacentto the track 23 and connected by a rope to a power-driven drum in likemanner as the skip-car 24, so that when one skip-car is traveling up thetracks and dumping the pigs therefrom another skip-car can be at restwithin the tank, receiving the pigs from the carrier, and so make acontinuous operation, and that various other changes and modificationsin the various parts of the apparatus may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of itsadvantages.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-- 1. The method of casting pig metal, consisting in pouring the metalinto traveling molds, partially submerging said molds but not the metaltherein in water, and at the same time keeping the metal from contactwith the water while in themolds and discharging the metal from themolds into water and completely submerging the metal therein.

2. The method of casting pig metal, consisting in pouring the metal intotraveling molds, partially submerging said molds but not the metaltherein in water and at the same time keeping the metal from contactwith the water while in the molds, discharging the metal from the moldsinto water and completely submerging the metal therein, and withdrawingthe same from the water and discharging it into a receptacle.

3. The method of casting pig metal, consisting in pouring the metal intotraveling molds, partially submerging said molds but not the metaltherein in water and at the same time keeping the metal from contactwith the water while in the molds, discharging the metal from the moldsinto water and completely submerging the metal therein, and then passingthe metal through said water and withdrawing the same therefrom.

4. The method of casting pig metal, consisting in pouring the metal intotraveling molds, partially submerging said molds but not the metaltherein in water and at the same time keeping the metal from contactwith the water while in the molds, discharging the metal from said moldsinto water and completely submerging thesame therein, allowing the metalto rest in said water, and withdrawing the same therefrom.

In testimony whereof I, the said ALFRED M. ACKLIN, have hereunto set myhand.

ALFRED M. ACKLIN.

Witnesses;

J. N. Comm, J. L. TREFALLER, Jr.

